Life Expectancy in the United States is Increasing

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), life expectancy in the United States as of 2007 averaged 77.9 years, an all time high. This was reported in Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2007, a summary based on a review of 90 percent of United States death certificates.

Life expectancy for men hit 75.3 years and 80.4 years for women, both record highs for each sex. These figures show that life expectancy has increased 1.4 years in the 10 years since 1997 when life expectancy averaged 76.5 years. This means we have been steadily adding about 1.7 months or 50 days to average life expectancy every year.

Heart disease and cancer remained the two leading causes of death and together accounted for just about half (48.5 percent) of all deaths. Overall, eight of the 15 leading causes of death fell significantly between 2006 and 2007 with deaths from heart disease dropping 4.7 percent while cancer fell 1.8 percent.

Death from HIV/AIDS fell the most at 10 percent, which was the largest one year decline since 1998. Deaths from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, on the other hand, both increased slightly, which was felt to be due to the fact that people are living longer in general.

While the increase in longevity is good news, of course, it needs to be taken in the context of what is occurring in other countries throughout the world. Overall, United States life expectancy ranks all the way down at 50th worldwide, essentially the same as Albania. Estimates for 2009 show 23 countries boasting average life expectancies of more than 80 years including Japan (82), Canada, France and Australia (81), Italy, Spain, and Norway (80).

With aggressive attention to the fundamentals of healthy living such as better diet, regular exercise, moderate alcohol, smoking cessation, and effective stress management, even greater increases in life expectancy should be possible in the years ahead.